🍳 From Pancakes to Propaganda: How Cracker Barrel Got Caught in Fox News’ Culture Wars
When “news” becomes manipulation, companies, workers, and communities pay the price — but democracy still offers a way forward
People-powered, AI-Generated
Imagine walking into a restaurant where the only argument should be biscuits or cornbread. Instead, you’re greeted with a shouting match about politics, identity, and fear. This is the strange new world in America: even comfort food chains like Cracker Barrel have become battlefields in a culture war manufactured by television personalities and political operatives.
For many people, this is exhausting. We want our news to inform us, our jobs to be secure, and our communities to thrive. But when private businesses are dragged into the spotlight of partisan media, ordinary workers and families carry the burden.
Clarity: What’s Really Happening
Cracker Barrel, like many companies, has tried to modernize its brand to keep up with changing customer preferences. That includes new menu items, technology upgrades, and occasional diversity initiatives. These changes are standard in business strategy — economists call it innovation for competitive advantage.
But Fox News hosts like Jesse Watters and others have attacked such moves as “woke” or “anti-American.” They frame rebranding or inclusivity as threats, creating outrage cycles that grab attention but distort reality. These tactics are not new. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication have shown that manufactured outrage and “media echo chambers” deepen polarization while reducing trust in institutions.^1
Jesse Watters: Not a Journalist, Not a Comedian — A Propagandist
Watters is often introduced as a “journalist” or a “comedian,” but the reality is very different. Journalists investigate facts and hold power accountable. Comedians use humor to punch up at hypocrisy and reveal truths. Watters does neither. His role is closer to that of a propagandist — someone who creates messages to manipulate audiences rather than inform or entertain.
Communication scholars define propaganda as information spread primarily to benefit a political cause or economic interest, often at the expense of accuracy.^2 Watters’ segments frequently distort ordinary business decisions, turning them into “culture war” crises, and in doing so, he serves the interests of right-wing billionaires who own and shape U.S. media. These billionaires understand that outrage is profitable and politically useful. By keeping Americans angry, suspicious, and divided, they weaken the public’s ability to unite around shared economic and democratic goals.
This is why something as simple as adding plant-based sausage to a breakfast menu gets painted as a battle for America’s soul. It isn’t about sausage at all. It’s about keeping people distracted and emotionally hooked, while the real structures of power — economic inequality, concentrated media ownership, political corruption — remain untouched.
The result? Small decisions become political flashpoints, businesses face boycotts and instability, and workers risk layoffs. When millions mistake propaganda for journalism, the very idea of truth becomes fragile.
It is normal to feel frustrated, anxious, or even hopeless in this environment. If news feels less like truth and more like theater, that’s because, in many cases, it is.
Solutions: What Can Be Done
Here are five hopeful, science-based ways to navigate and push back against this media capture:
Media Literacy Works. Studies show that teaching people to recognize manipulation reduces the impact of false or exaggerated claims.^3 Community-based media literacy programs, even informal ones like book clubs or youth groups, can strengthen resilience.
Support Independent Journalism. Local and nonprofit outlets, such as ProPublica or regional investigative centers, are less driven by national political narratives and more focused on facts. Subscriptions and donations matter.
Legislative Action Is Possible. Countries like Australia and the EU have taken steps to regulate disinformation and increase transparency in media ownership. Similar proposals are being debated in the U.S. and globally.^4
Workers’ Voices Are Powerful. Employees of companies targeted in culture wars can organize, unionize, or speak collectively. When the narrative shifts from “culture clash” to “protecting jobs,” public opinion often follows.
Resilience Through Connection. Psychologists remind us that belonging to supportive groups reduces stress and fosters hope. Whether through faith, family, or community networks, human connection remains a buffer against manipulation.^5
Counterpoints: What About Free Speech?
Some argue that Fox News and similar outlets are simply exercising free speech. That’s true in principle — but free speech does not mean freedom from accountability. Speech that knowingly spreads falsehoods or manipulates markets has consequences, both legally and socially. The First Amendment protects expression, but it does not shield corporations from consumer or worker backlash when they deliberately misinform.
Action: Something You Can Do Today
📌 Choose one piece of media to support this week that is independent, factual, and rooted in investigative journalism. Share it with a friend or family member and talk about what makes it different from outrage-driven news.
Moral: A Story of Hope
In the 1970s, cigarette companies were some of the most powerful advertisers in the world. They controlled television time, shaped public opinion, and created doubt about science. But ordinary people, activists, doctors, and lawmakers fought back. Today, smoking rates are at historic lows, and tobacco advertising has been restricted globally.
The lesson? Even the most powerful media-driven industries can change when citizens demand truth, accountability, and fairness.
We may not know whether Jesse Watters will ever admit he was wrong if layoffs or bankruptcies happen at companies like Cracker Barrel. But what matters more is that we learn to see through the performance, to protect workers, and to rebuild trust in media that serves democracy rather than undermines it.
3-Minute Summary
Cracker Barrel and other companies have been dragged into Fox News-driven culture wars.
Manufactured outrage hurts businesses, workers, and communities while distracting from real issues.
Jesse Watters is not a journalist or comedian but a propagandist serving billionaire interests.
Solutions include media literacy, supporting independent journalism, legislative reforms, worker solidarity, and building resilience through human connection.
Free speech is important, but accountability for misinformation is too.
Change is possible: just as tobacco advertising was challenged and reformed, manipulative media can also be confronted.
Something You Can Share
✨ “When outrage becomes a business model, workers and communities pay the price. Democracy demands better.”
Sources & Further Reading
Diana C. Mutz, Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2006).
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511617201Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda & Persuasion, 7th ed. (SAGE Publications, 2019).
Gordon Pennycook and David Rand, “The Implied Truth Effect: Attaching Warnings to a Subset of Fake News Stories Increases Perceived Accuracy of Stories Without Warnings,” Management Science 66, no. 11 (2020): 4944–4957.
https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3478European Commission, “European Democracy Action Plan,” 2020.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2250John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection (W.W. Norton, 2008).